This invention relates generally to business methods and apparatus for manually entering invoice data into a procurement or accounts payable database. More specifically the invention relates to detecting and correcting errors when such data is entered into a business process.
Procurement of products and services by companies for use within the company or for use in the manufacture of products has been developed and automated to a high degree. The technologies of electronic commerce provide significant advantages when applied to procurement systems. Once a product or service is ordered, and shipped by a supplier, the supplier normally requests payment by sending an invoice to the company which made the purchase.
While many systems have been developed for sending and receiving invoices electronically, a significant number of suppliers and purchasers continue to send and receive hardcopy invoices. Although fax technology is often used, as well as e-mail and conventional postal or courier services, the net is that a hardcopy invoice or equivalent image must be manually entered into the purchaser""s procurement or accounts payable system. Where a large number of invoices must be entered manually, errors are inevitable. Accordingly, methods and apparatus for entering invoices while minimizing or eliminating errors are desired.
K. Yukihiro in Japanese patent 11134419 describes a bill correction device for updating information in a stored electronic bill, based on comparison between an input bill and the stored bill. A correction unit updates the stored bill. Checking work is significantly reduced by judging from the number of times of correction whether the content of the two bills are the same.
T. Setsuo in Japanese patent 11306247 describes an accounting processing system which deals with errors on slips. By totalizing a result, a computer detects errors. The computer also produces correction data and a slip to be added for elimination of the error.
In an article entitled xe2x80x9cMS Invoice Technical Design and Deployment,xe2x80x9d there is described a web-based invoicing application enabling suppliers to electronically submit invoices directly into a company""s SAP R/3 enterprise resource application.
P. Houghtaling in an article titled xe2x80x9cIBM""s Small Suppliers Reap Big Rewards,xe2x80x9d describes a web site to post customized business forms for use by suppliers. The suppliers send invoices electronically using the forms thereby eliminating manual data entry.
A document of the monitor application titled xe2x80x9cmonitorxe2x80x94The complete IT solution for Intermodal Operators,xe2x80x9d describes how manual checking is replaced by automatic invoice checking facilities using a job""s dispatch plan. This insures invoices do not duplicate previous payment requests.
A document of the ELF eInvoice application discloses a system for automating the manual review of legal invoices.
Despite the above-described developments, there remains a need for reducing errors in systems which manually enter invoices. In accordance with the teachings of the present invention there is defined a new process for entering invoices while reducing the number of errors involved. It is believed that such a process would constitute a significant advancement in the art.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to enhance the invoice entry art by providing a process for invoice entry with enhanced auditing capabilities.
It is another object to provide such a process wherein enhanced operational capabilities are possible.
These and other objects are attained in accordance with one embodiment of the invention wherein there is provided a method of invoice entry, comprising the steps of, entering data from an invoice, by a first person, into a first database having a status indicator associated with the data from the invoice, and setting the status indicator to entered, entering a subset of the data from the invoice, by a second person different from the first person, into the database, matching the subset of the data entered by the second person with the data entered by the first person and highlighting any unmatched entries, either re-entering the unmatched entries by the second person and changing the status indicator to audit passed, or setting the status indicator to audit failed, or setting the status indicator to audit passed if there are no unmatched entries, and either posting the entered invoice data by the first person, to a second database, if the status indicator is audit passed, or re-entering the unmatched entries by the first person, changing the status indicator to re-entered and thereafter proceeding to the matching step, or changing the status indicator, by the first person to cancel.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention there is provided an invoice entry system, comprising, means for entering data from an invoice, by a first person, into a first database having a status indicator associated with the data from the invoice, and setting the status indicator to entered, means for entering a subset of the data from the invoice, by a second person different from the first person, into the database, means for matching the subset of the data entered by the second person with said data entered by the first person and highlighting any unmatched entries, means for either re-entering the unmatched entries by the second person and changing the status indicator to audit passed, or setting the status indicator to audit failed, or setting the status indicator to audit passed if there are no unmatched entries, and means for either posting the entered invoice data by the first person, to a second database, if the status indicator is audit passed, or re-entering the unmatched entries by the first person, changing the status indicator to re-entered and thereafter proceeding to the matching step, or changing the status indicator, by the first person to cancel.